Tool structure



Aug. 23, 1966 D. VAN PATTEN TOOL STRUCTURE Filed y 1. 1964 INVENTOR. DALE V4/U P4772 ATTGPA/[yy 3 MM ii -lull: v 7 a United States Patent 3,267,566 TOOL STRUEITURE Date L. Van Patten, Prairieville Township, Barry ilounty, Mich. (Rte. 1, Delton, Mich.) Filed May 21, 1964-, Ser. No. 369,125 1 Eiaim. Cl. 15--236) This invention relates in general to a hand tool for cleaning and repairing engines and, more particularly, to a type thereof having an elongated shank with a curved and tapered end portion having a rectangular cross section providing a plurality of cutting and cleaning edges.

Persons acquainted with the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipment, such as engines and particularly diesel engines, have long been aware of the problems encountered when they try to clean with existing tools portions of such engines which are difficult to reach. The repairman must either use some type of tool, such as a screw driver, which is not designed for that purpose, or he must strip olf many parts which will interfere with the cleaning of the engine by existing tools, such as wire brushes and the like, which have been designed lfor conducting metal cleaning operations. However, it is often highly desirable to remove at least excess accumulations from the engine lbefore dismantling of the engine in order to prevent such accumulations from falling into exposed parts of the engine and thereby aggravating the cleaning prohlem. Insofar as I am aware, no satisfactory tool has been previously or specifically developed lfOl this purpose.

As stated previously, a variety of different types of metal cleaning tools, both power driven and manually operated, have lbeen developed. However, such tools are usually designed to Work on relatively large surfaces, or surfaces which are easily accessible. Moreover, such tools are usually fairly large and not designed for ease of portability, as in the repairmans pocket, where the tool can be quickly and easily reached to perform a small cleaning operation.

While specific reference is frequently made herein to the tool of my invention as it applies to a cleaning operation, it will he recognized that the tool can also b used to perlform other operations, such as the removal and adjustment of engine parts.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the pro-vision of a relatively small hand tool which is particularly designed for use in cleaning relatively small and/ or inaccessible parts of an engine without dismantling the engine, which can also be used to clean relatively large metal surfaces with equal ease, and which can he used for a variety of other purposes by engine repairmen.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a hand tool, as aforesaid, which is sturdy is construction, light in weight, relatively inexpensive to man-uf'acture, safe and easy to operate, which has a long maintenance free life and which can be easily carried by the repairman in his pocket.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with tools of this gen eral type upon reading the following descriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a hand tool embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front end of said tool.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragment Olf FIGURE 1.

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FIGURE 6 is a broken side elevational view of a modifled tool embodying the invention.

FIGURE 7 is an end elevational view of the tool appearing in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VI II-VIII in FIGURE 6.

For convenience in description, the terms front rear and words of similar import will have reference to the left and right ends, respectively, of the hand tool appearing in FIGURES 1 and 6. The terms inner outer derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said hand tool and parts thereof.

General construction The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing a hand tool comprised of a manually engageable handle member from which an elongated shank extends in a lengthwise direction, said shank having an arcuate Working end portion. The end portion is rectangular in cross section and is gradually tapered [from the shank to its tip. In one lform of the invention, the handle is integral with the shank and in another torm the shank is inserted into a separate handle.

Detailed description The tool 10 (FIGURE 1), which illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, is fashioned from a single piece of relatively rigid steel rod which is of uni- [form circular cross section substantially throughout its length. One end portion 11 (IFIGUR'ES l. and 4) of the rod is folded upon an adjacent portion 12 of said rod to form a handle 13 which is relatively wide at its rearward end and tapers towards its front end. That is, the two portions 111 land 12 of the handle 13 converge from their rearward ends to their :frontward ends, where they may he held together merely by the stiffness of their materials or by welding, if desired.

Tool 10 has a shank 14 which extends between the front end of the handle 13 and the rear end of the curved working portion 16 of the tool. In this particular embodiment, the working portion 1 6 is formed or fashioned by grinding or otherwise providing four flat surfaces 17, 18, 19 and 20 (FIGURE 3) on the front end of the rod from which the tool is made. The flat surfaces are arranged to define a rectangular cross section which, in this embodiment, is square.

The flat surfaces 17, 18, 19 and 20 are formed so that their lengthwise, meeting edges define the four working or cutting edges 22, 23, 24 and 25. Moreover, the flat surfaces are arranged so that the cutting edges 22 and 23 are adjacent the radially outer side of the working portion 16, and the two cutting edges 24 and 25 are adjacent the radially inner side of the working portion 16. Also, by this arrangement, the cutting edges 22 and 24 are adjacent one side of the working portion 16, and the cutting edges 23 and 25 are adjacent the opposite side of the Working portion. Accordingly, at least two cutting edges on the working portion 1 6 are always available for performing substantially the same type Oif operation. Moreover, this arrangement provides both a lefthand and a righthand cutting edge for each type of cutting or scraping operation which the tool is capable of performing.

The working portion 16 ('FIGURE 2) is preferably tapered gradually from its rearward end to its front tip 26 which may either be slightly blunted or sharpened as desired. The center line of the working portion 16 prelfera'bly and substantially defines an arc of a circle having a radius of between approximately 3 /2 and 1 /2 inches, as shown in solid and broken lines, respectively, in FIG- UR:E 5. However, a radius of curvature of approximately 2 /2 inches is preferred. Thus, it becomes apparent that 3 all purposes of the tool might be best served by providing three models in which the Working portions thereof would have radii of curvature of 1 /2 inches, 2 /2 inches and 3 /2 inches, respectively.

In the modified tool 30 FIGURE 6) the shank 3'1 and curved working portion 32 are preferably integral parts of a relatively small rigid bar having a square cross section. The Working portion 32 (FIGURE 7) has :flat side surfaces 33 which are merely extensions of the flat side surfaces 34 (FIGURE 8) on the shank 3'1 and are tapered gradually [from the shank 31 toward the tip 36 of the tool to form the cutting edges 35. Thus, the cross sectional shape of the Working portion 32 gradually reduces in size in the same manner as does the cross sectional area Otf th working portion 16 on the tool 10.

The handle 37 preferably has a coaxial recess 38 (FIG- URE 6) in the front end thereof into which the rearward end Otf the shank 31 is snugly received and tightly held. The bar, from which the shank 31 and working portion 32 are integral parts, is preferably fabricated from rigid steel cap-able of maintaining a good cutting edge. Any one of 'a number of different types of steel, including stainless steel, could be used for this purpose in the tool 30 or in the tool ltl. The handle 37 may be fabricated from wood, plastic or any other suitable material.

While particular embodiments Otf the invention have been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which come within the scope of the appended claim, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

A tool :for cleaning and repairing engines, the combination comprising:

an elongated rigid and substantially straight shank member having a substantially uniform cross-sectional contour;

an acruate end port-ion integral with said shank member and curving substantially within a single plane t away from the extended axis of said shank member, said end portion defining an arc of between about one eighth and one fourth of a circle and being rectangular in cross section throughout the length of the curvature thereof to provide four sides defining four relatively sharp edges therebetween, two of said edges being along the radially outermost sunf-ace of said end portion and the other two edges being along the radially innermost surface of said end portion, whereby a pair of said four edges is located on each axial side of said end portion for simultaneous engagement with a fiat sunface, said end portion being gradually tapered toward the free end thereof to provide a substantially pointed tip, the circumferential length of said end portion being approximately the same as the length of said shank member, said end portion having a radius of curvature of between one and one-half inches and three and one-half inches; and a handle member rigidly secured to the other end of said shank and extending in a lengthwise direction away from the other end of said shank member, said handle member being formed by an integral part of said shank member tfolded upon itself to form with the remainder of said shank member a loop extending toward said curved portion and spaced a substantial distance therefrom.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,308,674 1/1943 Cave 15-143 2,359,607 10/1944- Bashara 15236 FOREIGN PATENTS 183,396 7/1922 Great Britain.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Examiner.

LEON G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner. 

